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/ Simon Rowlands / 23 March 2012 / Leave a Comment 
There is some valuable action in the US this weekend
"It remains to be seen if the Southwest Stakes was Castaway's "Derby"."
It is not one of the biggest weekends where the road to the Kentucky Derby on May 5 is concerned - most of the big guns are keeping their powder dry for another day - but there are still plenty of valuable races for punters to go at writes Timeform's Simon Rowlands...
The most valuable of all is the Sunland Derby on Sunday (due off at 00:45 BST, 17:45 local time), a nine-furlong Grade 3 at Sunland Park in New Mexico worth an eye-watering $800,000, for which eight have been declared.
Pick of the octet on Timeform ratings is Castaway, one of two Bob Baffert-trained contenders. Castaway earned a Timeform figure of 115 (9 less than current Derby favourite Union Rags) for winning a division of the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park in February by nearly four lengths from Jake Mo.
So far, so good. But it should be noted that the next nine home in that race could have been covered by the metaphorical horse blanket, and that the early signs are not especially encouraging that the form will hold up.
It was also a marked step up by Castaway on the form which had seen him take six starts before getting off the mark. It remains to be seen if the Southwest Stakes was Castaway's "Derby".
A degree of caution should also apply to the chance of Daddy Nose Best, next in on Timeform ratings at 110. His form is solid - he has generally kept good company and run his race - but the best of it has all come on turf and synthetic surfaces. The Sunland Derby will be run on dirt.
That will not pose a problem for the Todd Pletcher-trained Ender Knievel, who looks a very interesting runner up in class.
The son of Distorted Humor was second to ascendant star Thunder Moccasin in one of the hottest recent maidens in the US at Gulfstream at Christmas before winning a similar contest there by nearly eight lengths in February.
Ender Knievel looks highly likely to improve - possibly a great deal - on his Timeform rating of 101 and is taken to turn over some more exposed rivals.
Highlight of Turfway Park's Saturday card is the $500,000 Vinery Spiral Stakes (due off 22:45 BST, 17:45 local time), another Grade 3 over nine furlongs, this time run on a synthetic surface.
There is more quantity than quality in this, given the money on offer, and Mr. Prankster is the one horse of 12 to have posted a performance up to winning in this sort of grade already.
That effort - worth a Timeform figure of 110 - came when he whipped some useful rivals at the track last month by seven and a half lengths and more. Mr. Prankster has since bombed out in a more valuable contest, again at the course, but that clearly was not his running.
The second that day, Ill Conceived (Timeform rating of 105), should be a threat to Mr. Prankster again but looks a step down on Grade 3 calibre overall.
Much of the interest will centre on the lightly-raced pair Heavy Breathing (won both starts, trained by Todd Pletcher) and Went The Day Well (ready winner of a Gulfstream maiden last time for Graham Motion).
But, promising though they are, they still have quite a bit to prove at this level and in the hustle and bustle of a double-figure field, and their presence could well ensure that Mr. Prankster goes off a bigger price than he should.
Recommendations:
1 pt win Ender Knievel, Sunland Derby (Sunday)
1 pt win Mr. Prankster, Vinery Spiral Stakes (Saturday).
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